


Two dying stars, reborn as one

by strawberrylovely



Category: Shance - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lance and Shiro talk about their feelings, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Season/Series 06, shance, talking about hard situations and clone stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-25 11:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14976560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylovely/pseuds/strawberrylovely
Summary: After Lance finds out that the Shiro that had been with them since his disappearance was actually a clone, he mourns and has to come to terms with the feelings that the two of them once shared, and whether or not the original Shiro, whose soul has been transferred into the lifeless body of the clone, cares about him too.





	Two dying stars, reborn as one

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of a fix-it for after Season 6. It was rough for all of us, and that scene with Lance crying over Shiro had me wrecked, so I felt I needed to add to it. It's also the first canon-compliant-after-season-3 fic I've ever done because I live in constant denial.
> 
> (Also! Now that Shiro maintaining the clone's memories has been confirmed, this fic is technically even more canon compliant LOL)

_That guy’s my hero!_

 

 

 

_Nice, Lance! That’s why we bring our sharpshooter!_

 

 

 

_Shiro, that was awesome!_

 

 

 

_Great shot, Blue!_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Shiro?_

_He’s... gone._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_You’re looking better. How are you feeling?_

_Good. Just trying to get rid of this weird headache._

 

 

 

_Lance! Lance, listen to me!_

_Hey, Shiro. What were you trying to tell me in that void thing earlier? You were shouting at me, but I couldn’t hear you._

_I’m feeling so confused. It’s like... Like I’m not myself._

 

 

_We’ll get through this._

 

 

 

 

_Wow Lance, nice hit!_

_Way to go, Team Leader!_

_What are you doing up so late, Sharpshooter?_

_Hey Shiro, I saved you a seat._

_Uh, Blue... Can we talk?_

_Shiro, I need some guidance._

_Will you stay with me... for a while?_

_I need to tell you something, but please don’t laugh…_

_I like you too, Lance._

 

 

_Kiss me?_

 

 

 

_Sleep here tonight._

 

 

 

 

 

_I love you._

 

_I love you, too._

 

 

 

 

 

_Hey, Blue._

_You do know I’m Red now, right?_

_Yeah, but you’ll always be my Blue._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Shiro! Are you okay?_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Shiro’s gone mad! He’s escaping with Lotor!_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro, or, what looked to be Shiro, laid upon the ground, unmoving, unbreathing, and unresponsive. His metal arm had been cut off, a clean cut just above the elbow. Keith hadn’t really told anyone what had happened, nor where the real Shiro was. All Lance knew was that the real Shiro, his Shiro, was gone.

“Shiro’s spirit is still alive,” Keith explained, holding the clone’s lifeless body in his arms. “It’s inside the Black Lion. I’ve heard him talking to me.”

_That’s why he was calling to me... And I did nothing to save him._

“He...He tried to tell me, but... I didn’t realize,” Lance recalled. He felt his eyes start to water as the reality sunk in that he’d failed to help the person he cared about most in the entire universe. Not only that, but he hadn’t realized that the Shiro that loved him wasn’t even the true Shiro, just a clone; that he’d clung so desperately to the idea of his hero loving him back, he’d blinded himself with it.

There wasn’t much else he could do, so he let himself cry, falling to his knees in front of the false body of his hero, his leader, the man he loved that wasn’t really who Lance thought he was after all.

“I’m so sorry, Shiro.” The tears fell freely down his face, the guilt of his ignorance searing into his heart. “I- I didn’t know. I could’ve-”

He choked, unsure of what more he could say. No one else knew of their relationship, except for the mice from the time he’d confided in them, and he probably looked ridiculous openly sobbing on the ground while no one else was even misty-eyed. But he couldn’t help it. He felt as if a part of him had died right alongside Shiro, and it hurt, so, so bad.

A hand appeared on his shoulder a second later, startling him out of his drowning thoughts. Looking up, he saw Allura smiling at him, an expression of understanding – of _knowing_ – one Lance probably would have missed before from being too caught up in his own world.

Within seconds, the princess had walked to and from the Black Lion, carrying within her the very essence of Shiro, which she then passed onto the clone’s body, giving him a new life with a loud gasp. As the man sat up, Lance saw that the Quintessence, passed from the lion, through Allura and into his new body, had turned Shiro’s hair completely white. Much like a reborn star, shining brighter than ever before.

“You found me,” Shiro’s voice groaned out, eyes focused particularly nowhere as he collapsed over onto Keith.

Lance tried not to feel the twinge of jealousy that poked him in the back, pushing it away as he brought forward his happiness at seeing the real Shiro before him. He’d nearly lost hope, yet here the man was, living and breathing once more, and Lance felt like crying all over again.

Hopefully Shiro would remember him. Or, at least, maybe he’d give him a second chance. He’d have to ask once Shiro was fully rested.

 

“Maybe Shiro could ride in each of our lions as we go home. We’ll have plenty of places to stop and refuel, so he could just switch out when-”

“Lance, Shiro needs to rest,” Keith interrupted. “He can’t do that if he’s constantly changing out who he rides with. He’ll be riding in the Black Lion with Krolia and me.”

“Why don’t you let him decide, then?” Lance said indignantly.

“I- He’s not even conscious. This isn’t a discussion. He’s riding with us, and that’s final. Besides, the Black Lion is much bigger than Red, he’d have more room with us anyway.”

“...Fine,” Lance pouted.

He didn’t want to make a scene, so he decided he’d just ask Shiro at their next stop. Should he be awake, that is.

 

Their first stop was at a small, liberated ally planet filled with colorful flora surrounding the area where they landed. They needed to grab some water and a few other supplies that would hopefully last them until their next stop.

Shiro didn’t even come out of the lion, and Lance didn’t dare pester Keith again to see him, so he waited until the next stop. And then the next. And then the next.

 

It had been well over a month that they’d been on course for Earth, and they still had a long way to go. Lance had had a lot of time to think and grieve and build up courage to talk to Shiro. It took a few stops before the man finally left the Black Lion, but each time either Keith or Krolia was with him, and... Well, it wasn’t that Lance was scared, but he’d rather not start an argument either way. He’d been waiting for a chance to get Shiro alone so he could ask him ride together, that way, even if Shiro declined, only the two of them would know he’d even asked.

They’d stopped on a moon in front of a huge space diner that seemed to float above the ground, _like one from the Jetsons, or something,_ Lance thought. Hunk and Pidge had jumped out of their lions as soon as they touched down, racing down towards the diner to grab food and maybe use a real bathroom. A few extra days had passed since their last stop, and everyone was tired, hungry, and really needed to stretch their legs. Shiro included.

He’d walked out of the Black Lion by himself, strolling along to the diner after Hunk and Pidge. Lance saw it as his only chance. He nearly tripped running out of Red’s mouth, trying to get to Shiro before anyone else beat him to it.

“Hey, Shiro!” Lance said, trying to sound nonchalant despite being out of breath.

“Oh. Hello, Lance. It’s nice to see you,” Shiro smiled. He sounded tired, like he hadn’t slept in days. Maybe even weeks. But his smile was genuine, so Lance returned it with a happy grin of his own.

“How are you? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever,” Lance said honestly. Other than the few words exchanged between the group on rest stops, the two really hadn’t spoken in a long time. Even longer if Lance counted before Shiro die- _disappeared_. Which he really didn’t want to. It was easier not to think about it that way, he supposed.

“I’m good. Just trying to get used to being alive again,” Shiro joked lightly, but neither really felt like laughing. “How are you?”

“Bored. Tired of sitting on my butt all day and all night.”

“Ha, I understand that.”

Seeing Shiro again – even if he didn’t remember the way Lance would sneak into his room at night, or steal his shirts, or _kiss him_ – gave the brunet a slight spring in his step that he hadn’t had in weeks. Now was the perfect time to ask Shiro to ride with him until the next stop, but something deep within him gave him pause.

What if Shiro really didn’t remember him that way? What if he said something and Shiro became disgusted that Lance would be with his clone, or disappointed that he couldn’t tell the difference? Lance knew that body, had seen and touched that body many times, memorized every inch of it. But the man inside wasn’t the one that had touched him back.

“I... uh... really like your new hair!” he said, stalling for time to work up his courage. “It’s all magical and cool and... stuff.”

“Oh, thanks,” the man said, touching his hand to the flash of white on his head. “I keep forgetting about it, to be honest. No mirrors in the Black Lion, you know. Uh, but I like it too, I think. Not the style I’d usually go for, but if you like it, I guess it’s alright,” he smiled warmly, and Lance nearly tripped from being so caught off guard.

Maybe asking wouldn’t be as scary as he thought.

“So... I-It must get pretty boring being cooped up in the Black Lion with the same two people all the time,” Lance tried. He had to try.

“It’s not so bad. I get to catch up with Keith while he also catches up with his mother. It’s funny how they were away from each other for so long, yet they’re almost exactly alike in nature.”

“Two Keiths? Eugh,” Lance made a face, but quickly realized this Shiro probably wouldn’t find it funny. “Uh, anyway,” he continued, “I was just wondering if maybe you’d...That is, if you’d _want_ to... Um. Ride with me? Only until the next stop, of course.”

“Yeah, sure. I’d like that very much,” Shiro said, and something about his tone of voice made Lance’s heart skip a beat as they walked into the diner together.

 

Once everyone was filled up and each lion recharged, everyone piled back into their designated ships. Lance waited outside Red, kicking the ground idly as his eyes followed that shock of white hair from the diner. Shiro was talking to Keith and Krolia as they walked to the Black Lion (probably letting them know of his change of residency for the next several days) before veering off at the last second towards Lance. He smiled as he came upon the Red Lion, letting Lance enter first as he followed behind.

The two were mostly silent as everyone took off, breaching the atmosphere into space in no time at all. Shiro was sitting quietly in a chair behind the pilot seat, probably wondering why Lance wanted to ride together if he wasn’t going to say anything. But Lance didn’t want to talk until he knew he could put Red on autopilot; he wanted to give Shiro his full attention.

After a few minutes, they were on course, and Lance heard a shuffling from behind that told him Shiro had stood up and started slowly pacing.

“So, Shiro,” Lance finally said to fill the air, “how are you feeling? You know, mind wise?”

“I’m alright,” Shiro sighed, his footsteps falling silent. “I’m fully rested and I’ve been able to think through a lot of things. I still don’t feel completely in my- this body yet, but I’m sure once we get back to Earth I’ll be used to it.”

“...Red, keep following the others.”

Lance stood from his seat and moved closer to Shiro at the back of the cabin.

“Uhm, well,” he said, trying to quell his nerves. “Since this body isn’t really yours- I mean, it is technically your body, just not your original body... Um... Do you have any memories at all, any of your- of _his_ memories?”

Shiro shifted what Lance perceived as uncomfortably, his one arm grasping onto the other side of his stomach, like he would be folding his arms if one wasn’t missing.

“I- Well, yes and no. Somehow mine and the clone’s mind melded together when my soul was transferred into his, as if I had really been there the whole time. The Galra must have put an identical copy of my own memories into him, because, from what I understand, he really thought he was me. Or _I_ thought I was...?” He shook his head. “I-It’s all still very confusing, especially since the memories don’t...feel like my own. It’s almost like watching a movie of your childhood, where you know these things happened, but you can’t remember it until you see it played out. Quite a few memories have shown through so far, but most of them are blurry at best. More and more memories come to me each day, but even after months of gaining them, I still feel like I’m missing huge pieces of time that I may never get back.”

“I mean, they’re not exactly _your_ memories, so it might be-”

“They are mine, now. Any trace of who the man was in this, in _my_ body, is gone. The only thing I have left are his memories and...Lance, they’re me. It was like I was living two different lives, but they were both me, just now they’re interwoven,” Shiro tried to explain. “I know it probably doesn't make sense. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either. I just- Who am I if I just accept that who he was wasn’t also who I am? He talked and reacted to things the same way I would. Hell, he even brushed his teeth the same way. He- He was me for me while I was gone, and now I’m...I’m just me. I don’t...”

The look of distress on Shiro’s face hurt Lance like no other. Sure, he may not understand completely, but he’s also never been split in two (or two hundred, depending on just how many clones the Galra had chosen to make) like Shiro had. All Lance wanted to do was hold him, let him cry into his shoulder and kiss the side of his head until he felt better, just like he’d done many times before.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro continued, “I guess it’s just hard being two different people in one.”

“You’re not, Taka- Uh, Sh-Shiro. You’re not two people in one. You are you,” Lance pressed. “Look, I don’t really understand what you’re going through, but I hope you know that I’m here for you if you ever need anything.”

Young eyes, far too young to have gone through so much, met his, crinkling ever so slightly at the edges into a smile, and Lance could see through the deep grey that Shiro’s eyes were watering — something that made Lance’s breath shaky as he breathed in a gasp.

“Shiro,” he said, wishing so much that he could reach out and touch the man’s face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It’s alright, Lance. Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.”

“What?” the boy asked, knowing that response was far from the truth. “No. No, it’s not, everything is not ‘fine.’ You’re hurting and I can’t do anything to help you. I wish I could fix everything so you’d never be sad ever again, but I can’t! And I-I’m so sorry I didn’t help you before, when you were...You...You tried to tell me, but I didn’t understand, so I just carried on like everything was ‘fine.’ But now that I know, that everything was very much _not fine_ , I just… I feel so bad that I did nothing to help get you back! That I… failed you," he admitted. "So no, I can’t keep pretending that everything is just fine anymore, when it’s not! I...I can’t-”

“Whoah, Lance, hey…”

He hadn’t realized he’d started crying, too.

Shiro’s hand gripped his shoulder like a vice, holding onto him, bringing him back to just the two of them inside the cockpit of Red. Lance wiped at his face and looked up at Shiro, staring into his grey eyes and almost begging him to reach out and pull him close.

“Do you remember me?” he blurted, unable to put off the question haunting the back of his mind any longer.

“What? Of course I do, La-”

“No, Shiro I don’t mean ‘do you remember me’ like ‘do you know who I am.’ I mean... Do you remember...” he let out a small breath. “ _...Me?_ ”

Shiro sighed, nodding his head minutely to signal he understood.

“You mean, do I remember you and me, together.”

“Well, me, and your _clone_ ,” Lance clarified.

“No, you and _me_ -”

“ _No_ , I-”

“Lance-”

“Shiro, just stop! Okay? I-I know you want to take his memories and live on as if you’d never left. I get it, alright? But this? Is different. I thought it was really you, but it just wasn’t, okay? Yes, it was you that I fell in love with, but not the you that you are now. I’m confused too, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s even right to still have feelings for you. So it- it’s okay. You don’t have to pretend that you know and feel the same way he did. You- You don’t-” He sighed. “Just forget it.”

Lance started to walk back to his seat, wishing he’d just kept his mouth shut. Because somehow, talking about it was much worse than not knowing.

“Well what if I want to remember, huh?” Shiro snapped back, making Lance stop dead in his tracks. “What if I want to remember all of it? What if I want to remember you, laying in my bed? Or you kissing me in the morning with your messy hair, or you holding me after a nightmare? The way you’d laugh when I blew raspberries into your neck? What if I want to remember every curve of your body, and how you know every curve of mine?” His voice got quieter, tone begging Lance to look at him. “What- What if I don’t want to forget you falling in love with me? Because I sure as hell can’t forget falling in love with you.”

“Shiro,” Lance said in a quiet voice. “It wasn’t-”

“It may not have been me physically, but I still remember it so vividly. I _do_ remember. _Everything_ about you, Lance.”

Lance remained silent, hot tears flowing over his cheeks as he finally turned around to look at the man before him. Shiro had gotten closer, nearly looming over him, his own face wet with tear stains as he reached his only arm up to the crook of Lance’s neck.

“You’re all I’ve been able to think about, for weeks,” he admitted. “Yes, talking with Keith and Krolia has been fun, but most of the time I’m not paying attention to them. You cloud my every thought, all the time. And whether or not I was there to make those memories, they’re mine now. They are, and I have gone over them tirelessly, trying to figure out if the feelings I was having were just left over from this body, or if they were mine. And to be honest, I’m still not completely sure. But seeing you, God, _touching you_? I- It feels more right than anything has in the past month.” His hand trailed up Lance’s neck to cradle the brunet’s face, thumb wiping gently at his cheek. Lance leaned into the touch as his eyes fluttered closed, the feeling of Shiro’s skin familiar and soothing to the ache that had been steadily growing inside his heart. “You know,” Shiro continued, “Keith might be my brother, but Krolia is _not_ and will never be, my mother. And watching them interact, they both have someone to come home to. But me? The only person I can ever remember coming home to... is you...Blue.”

Shiro using that name, the nickname only he had for Lance, the name Lance had locked away in his own memories to never be heard again in the same way, pulled at his heart and made his tears resume their endless stream.

“I-I’m Red, now.” Lance recalled that conversation from a late night when he’d snuck down to Shiro’s room, and he repeated the words he’d said through broken sobs, hoping maybe, the other would remember and play along.

Shiro just smiled and rubbed his thumb against Lance’s cheekbone, dragging his skin slightly to remind the boy he was still there next to him.

He leaned in close, waiting until Lance’s eyes were staring back at him before responding.

“You’ll always be my Blue.”

Lance felt his chest clench as he pulled on Shiro’s collar and crashed their lips together. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea, kissing Shiro when they still had so much to figure out, but he was running on impulse, and his impulses told him to kiss Shiro, to give in the to ache he’d been carrying for so long and just _do it_. Because some other part of him still believed, deep down, that he’d never get the chance again.

But then Shiro was kissing him back, grabbing hold of his neck as his fingers tangled into the ends of Lance’s hair. He pressed further, chasing after the brunet, proving to him that it wasn’t the end but instead a new beginning, and Shiro wouldn’t let him go without a fight.

He bit Lance’s lip, making the boy gasp as his mouth fell open, willing and waiting for Shiro to make the next move. Their heavy breaths mingled in the cool air of the cabin, lips barely tickling the tips of the other’s before Shiro spoke.

“We- We should… take it slow,” he breathed. Lance slowly opened his eyes to the man in front of him and started to move away, but not before Shiro’s arm was around his waist, bringing him closer and preventing him from going too far. “You’re right, everything _is_ different. And I want to give you all of me that I can. It just might take some time. Because as many memories as I have with you, I want to make even more. Memories of my own.”

“I’d like that,” Lance smiled.

“I like _you,_ ” Shiro smirked. “In fact, I think I might lo-”

“ _No,_ ” Lance stopped him, putting a hand over Shiro’s mouth. “Uh- Sorry, but, no. For both our sakes, please don’t...tell me you love me until you’re certain that they’re your own, original feelings. I’m sorry, I just...”

He shook his head, struggling to put the words together. But thankfully, Shiro knew the words he couldn’t say, and pulled him into a hug.

“I understand,” he said, rubbing tiny circles between Lance’s shoulder blades. “I won’t. I promise. Not until I’m certain.”

“Thank you.” Lance buried his face in Shiro’s chest, taking in his scent — the same aroma he’d always had — comforting him, making him feel at home. “Tell me something,” he said. “If you’d never left, and it really was just _you_ you the entire time, would you ever have fallen for me on your own?”

Lance felt Shiro smile into his hair, kissing his head lightly at the question.

“I think so. Like I said, he thought he was me, so he reacted to things the same way I would have. And he fell in love the same way I fall in love. Not to mention I’d already thought you were kinda cute before I ‘disappeared,’ so...”

“Wait, really?” Lance said, pushing back to stare up at the other man questioningly.

“Yeah, of course. Who wouldn’t, with that suave charm of yours?” Shiro teased.

Lance smiled, truly happy for the first time in a while now that he was back in Shiro’s arms, the real Shiro, who wanted him even after everything that had happened.

He pecked the man’s lips again before motioning behind them with his head. “I should...probably get back to flying. Red doesn’t like it when I’m not helping out.”

“Of course,” Shiro nodded.

His hand fell from Lance’s waist, allowing the boy to step away and move back to his seat.

“Uh. Lance?”

“Yes?”

He turned back to see Shiro smiling softly at him.

“Thank you. For, everything. With me now and, before with... You- You’re a really great person, you know that?”

Lance felt his cheeks heat up with the compliment, grin spreading over his face as he continued to his seat.

“Well, they don’t call me a ‘Defender of the Universe’ for nothing,” he said proudly, and he swore, he could hear Shiro chuckle to himself behind him.

 

~~

 

Lance groaned as he stretched his arms, trying to wake up despite the sleepiness of early morning. Before he could even open his eyes, he suddenly recalled that he wasn’t in his bed at home.

Right. They‘d gone back into space with the new castleship, securing the safety of Earth from the remaining Galrans led by Haggar and Sendak. After a hard battle the day before, Lance had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A faint snoring came from beside him, and Lance remembered he wasn’t in his room on the ship, either. He’d stayed in Shiro’s room overnight, and now the man was sleeping soundly next to him — a sight Lance loved more than he’d ever admit. After all the time Shiro spent not sleeping during the war, Lance loved that his boyfriend was able to sleep better when they slept side by side. For both selfish and unselfish reasons, of course.

His new Altean prosthetic shone dimly in the dark room, small blue lights showing that it was connected and working perfectly — not unexpected, as Hunk and Pidge worked tirelessly with Allura to create the greatest model possible for ease and comfort for Shiro.

As the older man continued slumbering, Lance dragged thin fingers through his hair, surprisingly soft despite being eternally white from stress and Quintessence. He watched and listened as Shiro hummed awake, squeezing his eyes before blinking them open towards Lance. They smiled at each other, and Lance leaned over to press a kiss to his lips, happier now that his boyfriend was awake.

“Hi, baby,” Lance cooed, brushing the bangs out of Shiro’s eyes.

“Mornin’,” the man croaked, voice still heavy with sleep.

“Good morning.” Lance hummed as his fingers scratched through Shiro’s hair, making the man smile from the feeling. “Have I ever told you how much I love your hair?”

“Just about every day.”

“It’s just so beautiful. It makes you look like an angel. Ooh, or a fairy.”

Shiro gave him an unamused look in return, raising one eyebrow in question.

“A manly... fairy... No, no, wait. I got it,” Lance said. He cupped Shiro’s face with a hand, pushing his snowy bangs back to look directly into the deep silver of his eyes. “You are the brightest and most beautiful star in the entire galaxy.”

“Which galaxy?” Shiro asked, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

“All of them,” Lance said.

“That’s a lot of galaxies.”

“And yet somehow, in the middle of all of them, we still found each other.”

“Yeah,” Shiro smiled. “We did.”

Lance leaned closer and kissed his boyfriend again, never able to get his fill of affection from the older man. When he pulled away, Shiro’s eyes were shining with enough admiration to turn even the wickedest of Galrans away from evil.

“So,” Lance said, starting on his morning rant, “I think Allura said we’re going scouting today for some secret facility where they are keeping a super weapon that we need to get before they can use it or something? I’m not really sure, I wasn’t paying that much attention in the debrief last night. Also! Hunk said he was going to make crepes for breakfast this morning! Crepes! Gosh, when’s the last time you had a crepe? I don’t even think they had them at the Garrison. Ugh, I’m so glad we got to go home and have Earth food again. I mean, I’m glad we got to see our families again too, obviously, but hey, if I never have to eat food goo ever again, I wouldn’t complain, you know what I mean? Also-”

“I love you.”

Lance’s story fell on his tongue, stopped short as every wire in his brain quit working at the sound of Shiro’s quiet voice. He looked over to the man beside him, who was watching him with the gentlest of eyes and softest smile, gaze never faltering or changing, as if he was a statue of the universe’s most beautiful man watching Aphrodite. His loving stare made Lance’s cheeks heat up as the words finally reached his ears.

_I love you._

“I- You?” He blinked a few times. “Takashi, you promised you wouldn’t say that unless-”

“I know what I promised,” Shiro said, one side of his mouth turning up higher than the other.

Lance tried to search for words, any and everything he could think turning into mush in his brain. His heart was pounding and he knew Shiro was waiting for him to answer, but for the first time in a while he was completely speechless. Everything was falling into place: he’d gotten to see his family again and let them know he was alive, the Galra were nearly defeated and Earth, as well as every other planet, would be free from their threatening tyranny, Hunk was making crepes for breakfast, and the man he loved, loved him right back, truly, fully, certainly.

Finally, he found his words with tears forming in his eyes as he leaned over Shiro’s face and cradled it in his hands.

“I love you, too,” he cried, kissing Shiro hard as their noses knocked together painfully.

“I know,” Shiro laughed. His arms came up around Lance’s waist, pulling him closer as he connected their lips again, more carefully this time.

“Say it again,” Lance popped up, sitting up on the bed and bouncing lightly with excitement.

“I love you.”

Shiro started to sit up, but Lance tackled him again, peppering kisses all over his face as he chuckled and tried to calm the brunet down.

“Lance- Lance, baby- Hey- Oh my- Haha! La- Lance, sweetie. Baby Blue, hey...”

The younger man finally let up, hovering above Shiro and smiling sheepishly down at him. Shiro raised his human hand to Lance’s cheek and the brunet kissed his palm with a small _chu_ , leaning into the warmth and letting Shiro’s rough thumb rub against the softness of his face.

“Sorry,” Lance said shyly. “I’m just...so happy.”

“Don’t be sorry, Love. I’m happy too. I just want to see your face, but I can’t do that if you’re kissing me.”

“But I can’t kiss you if you’re looking at my face,” Lance pouted.

Shiro breathed a laugh and pulled Lance down slowly. “Then how ‘bout a soft one?” he said, and Lance nodded as their mouths came together, _softly_ , tenderly, and with all the love in the world surrounding them and tying their souls together.

“Hey Shiro, breakfast time! I made crepes- Oh.”

Lance whipped his head towards the door to see Hunk standing there in his apron, red-faced at catching the two of them in such a compromising position.

“Hey, uh. Breakfast. Uhm. Sorry,” he stuttered, averting his eyes.

“G-Good morning Hunk. We’ll be right there,” Shiro said, trying to sound professional while Lance remained frozen, ass up in the air, staring at the door.

“Awesome,” Hunk said. He started to walk away, but turned back before leaving completely. “Hey, so does this mean I don’t have to pretend I don’t know about your relationship anymore?”

“WHAT?!” Lance finally spoke, completely taken aback by his best friend’s remark. “You knew?”

“Yeah, we’ve all been waiting for you guys to tell us about it. You’re both terrible at hiding secrets, you know. But we wanted to let you guys come to us first, so... Sorry? I’m happy for you guys though! Please wear pants to breakfast, thanks!”

Hunk hurried off and the door shut behind him, leaving the two in the near darkness once again.

“I can’t believe they knew the whole time and never said anything,” Lance said.

“I mean, to be fair, we didn’t say anything to them either.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want them to be all judgey if they found out, since we’re in the middle of a war and everything...”

“Well, hey. Maybe it could help the coalition,” Shiro said. “If our allies out there knew that, even during war, two paladins of Voltron were madly in love, maybe that would give them hope.”

Lance blushed at Shiro’s choice of words, rolling his eyes playfully as he crawled over and off the bed to turn the light on. “Yeah, maybe,” he teased, wiggling his hips a little as he picked up his pants from the floor. “Come on, we’re gonna be late for breakfast.”

“That’s fine with me,” Shiro said.

One moment, Lance’s feet were firmly planted on the ground as he fastened the button on his pants. The next, he was flying in the air, back pressed against a strong chest as Shiro pulled him back down onto the bed, squeezing him tight and pressing kisses into the curve of his neck.

“Shirooo...”

“I love you,” the man whispered, and Lance shivered at the feeling of Shiro’s breath leaving goosebumps along his sensitive skin.

 _Finally_ , was the only word on Lance’s mind. Finally Shiro felt content in his own body that he was able to love Lance completely. Finally Lance could love Shiro without feeling the need to hold back. And finally, they could give all of themselves to each other with confidence, nothing holding them back from the deep and overwhelming intimacy they shared with one another.

Lance wiggled in his boyfriend’s hold, turning so they were face-to-face before pressing two short kisses to Shiro’s lips. The second kiss lingered on as Lance moved back, coaxing Shiro to stand up with him.

“Let’s get some breakfast,” he said with a silly grin, and watched as Shiro pulled on a shirt.

Once they were both dressed, Lance curled his pinkie around Shiro’s, and they walked out of the room together, making sure to turn off the light on the way out.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this fic, please leave a comment to let me know! Thank you so much! <3


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